


Free to Fly

by VintageJacqui



Series: Nasir's Brand Speculation Society [2]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 04:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VintageJacqui/pseuds/VintageJacqui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another 'where is Nasir's brand?' fic.</p><p>This is set during Vengeance. After Nasir has made attempt on Sparty's life and also after he tells Agron his real name, but before they go out to search for Naevia and Agron tried to chat Nasir up by being smooth and talking about fucking men from behind.</p><p>This is all made up and has no historical accuracy whatsoever!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free to Fly

It was just above the rounded bone at the top of his spine, a small brand, some sort of bird. 

 

Agron saw it because he was the only one who was really looking, not for that specifically, but it drew his eye nonetheless.

 

Other newly freed slaves took notice of Nasir, even a few of the gladiators who he had fled the ludus with eyed the beautiful Syrian with a quiet curiosity and more than one with a look of distrust. He had made attempt upon Spartacus' life after all, but then he had saved it with as much passion as any warrior, splitting a Roman skull with sword, a virgin object in his hand, and yet wielded with purpose.

 

Still, these were troublesome times and friend had become foe on more than one occasion, so Agron could understand his brother's caution. 

 

When he looked at Nasir though, he did not feel distrust, but admiration. It was a new feeling. He himself had given voice against Spartacus' unwavering focus on breaking the chains of house slaves instead of fighting men. 

 

Nasir had changed his mind, no easy task, and now Agron was caught in the orbit of the little man, his thoughts returning to the bird on smooth skin. He wanted to see it again, only chancing upon it when he'd watched Nasir training, that sinful hair, black flames in the sun, parting to reveal its position to his lingering gaze.

 

The sun had set in the villa, food and wine balancing some of the lingering tension in the camp. Agron made his way to the left side of the courtyard, a place he had discovered that Nasir favoured because it caught the last of the days warmth before the nights chill settled upon them. His steps seemed too loud and he realised that there was no one else around except for a figure sitting motionless on a wooden bench by the wall. 

 

Smiling, Agron clutched a cup of wine in one hand and plate of bread and meat in the other, approaching slowly so not to startle him.

 

"Apologies, I thought you might be hungry."

 

Nasir's eyes rise, the orange glow of the braziers catching in them as he looks at Agron's offerings and then up to his face.

 

"Gratitude," he replies, hand reaching out for the cup, one eyebrow quirking curiously. "You do not drink?"

 

"I would keep a clear head and I only have two hands," Agron chuckles, motioning to the plate of food. He sits down and places it between them, taking a piece of too dry bread and watching Nasir do the same. 

 

Agron glances at the dark sweep of his hair, cascading in silky tendrils down Nasir's naked back, hiding the brand like a shameful secret. Looking down at his own arm, the ugly raised scar tissue that will define his past forever, he can't help but wonder if Nasir still feels the sting of the needle as clearly as he feels the searing heat of metal and burning, blistering flesh.

 

"Your mark... why did your Dominus choose a bird? His sigil is the head of a wolf is it not?"

 

For a moment, Nasir doesn't answer. Agron curses himself for being too forward, but his curiosity got the better of him and now he's started he might as well continue.

 

"Your friend... Chadara, hers is different, a bird, and yet it doesn't have it's wings spread." 

 

  
_Like yours_ , he adds silently.

 

"Birds in a gilded cage," Nasir says quietly, his head tipping back, resting against the crumbling stone wall. His eyes close and Agron watches intently, his heart pumping fiercely, blood hot and racing flushing his face.

 

"My Dominus said that to me when I was a child, when they put it on me. ' _You are a bird in a gilded cage._ ' He wanted all his little birds to be different, so each of his slaves have a different one. I do not know what mine looks like." Nasir opens his eyes and gives Agron a look that is part shame and part defiance.

 

"I could describe it?" Agron suggests. He's desperate to.

 

"I..." Nasir hesitates, his hand dipping under his hair and wrapping around his neck. "Would you?"

 

Agron smiles with relief and nods his head. He moves the plate from between them and guides Nasir to turn so that his back is to him. At the first touch to that raven black hair Agron's breath catches. He covers it with a cough, but swears he hears a soft laugh fall from Nasir's lips.

 

He gathers the dark mass in one large handful. It's softer than he thought it would be and he takes longer to push it over Nasir's shoulder than is really necessary. 

 

The little bird is suddenly there, so close now that Agron can see the intricate detail of it. Black and grey ink swirling and spiralling, feathery strokes to create the illusion of flight. He reaches up and rubs his thumb over it, his fingers curling over Nasir's shoulder.

 

"It is small, delicate, the wings run from here," he touches the tip of the right wing and runs his thumb to the other side, "to here."

 

Agron feels Nasir shiver, but it could just be from the cool air closing in around them.

 

"This is the head, and the beak, and here is the tail." He traces the intricate creature lightly, outlining its form for Nasir to visualise through his touch. This is the most contact he's had with Nasir, the wild little dog who he had once thought better off removed before he had the chance to bare teeth again, and it's almost surreal how he feels about him now. 

 

"It doesn't matter what it looks like. It means only one thing," Nasir says, a frustrated hiss piercing the stillness of night. He pulls away from Agron's hand and turns to face him, eyes wet and shining in the glow from the fires.

 

"You are a free man, Nasir. You do not have to hide what you have broken free from. It is part of who you are." Agron smiles affectionately.

 

"I do not know who I am," Nasir whispers, the fight in his voice quelled in favour of a rare moment of raw vulnerability.

 

"Then we must find out. You no longer live inside a cage. Fly to your own purpose."

 

Their eyes meet and a spark ignites. 

 

 


End file.
